bennet_7

So I was 'googling' (that sounds wrong) some of my favourite actors for a picspam I'm planning and I discovered that Richard Farnsworth, the actor who played Matthew in the 1985 version of Anne of Green Gables, shot himself after being diagnosed with terminal cancer. I knew he was dead (he died in 2000) but I didn't know the cause. It is my understanding that he was in a lot of pain.

I loved his portrayal of Matthew. I like to imagine he's my grandfather (I never knew either of my bio grandfathers). He was just so sweet, perfectly capturing that innocent and pure love that Matthew has for Anne. My mother always says that he is Matthew and she can't imagine anyone else in that role.

Farnsworth actually started out as a stuntman, doubling for Kirk Douglas, Steve McQueen, Henry Fonda, Montgomery Clift, Gary Cooper and Roy Rogers. He didn't move into acting until he was much older; his first major role was in Comes a Horseman and Farnsworth was 58. He earned an Oscar nomination for that role. He is also the oldest person to have ever to have earned a Best Actor Oscar Nomination, at the age of 80 for the film The Straight Story.

When asked just before his death what he was most proud of concerning his career, he said that it was the fact that he had never says a 'cuss' word, despite being in over 60 films.